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ELECTRIC CARS, ELECTRIC DREAMS?

When Steve Cropley from Autocar returns from a day spent driving three disparate battery-powered Renaults and says the following, you really should take notice:

'We really will be driving cars like this in a few years' time, and despite what many people think, the fun of driving will still be there.'

And it's not just Autocar and Renault who are bringing a new sense of realism to the debate about electric cars. There are a number of shifts in industry activity which have moved the debate out of nerdy scientific obscurity and one step closer to the forecourt.

ELECTRIC CARS, ELECTRIC DREAMS?

AN ELECTRIC CAR TO BUY NOW

For many people the prospect of actually driving an electric car is about as likely as a quick trip into space. But the new Mitsubishi iMiEV is in London showrooms and you can make an appointment to test drive it now.

Although it looks much like a sharply designed supermini, there are a few things about this car which require you to reconfigure the way you think about buying and running a car.

To baulk at the list price of £38,699 (reduced to £33,699 with the help of the government's recently announced Consumer Incentive Scheme) is to only partly understand the economics of this car. Even The Sun runs the headline '12'000 MILES FOR JUST £115' in its review of the iMiEV, a tacit admission if there ever was one of the ultimate desirability - and the main motive for buying - a car of this type.

A NEW WAY OF THINKING

Electric cars still suffer from a feeling of otherworldliness despite their down-to-earth running costs. A silent electric car is weird in a noisy world where 'grunt' is still a popular measure of your motor's pedigree.

Also, electric cars theoretically offer instant maximum torque at any point in the rev range, a novel concept for drivers used to building and playing with their power feed.

With this in mind Lotus have engineered their new Evora to recreate the conventional 'feel' of driving synthetically, adding in a rorty engine sound and 'fake' gearbox. Strange thoughts indeed, but a reality if manufacturers want to smooth the transition from one way of thinking about driving to the next.

Another good indicator of the broader industry's preparedness is Europacar taking on 500 Renault electric vehicles, for rental in Europe's largest cities from late 2011. Europacar has given substance to the partnership agreement signed with Renault at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show which promised to promote zero-emissions mobility solutions.

THE REALITY OF RUNNING AN ELECTRIC CAR

So what about the practicalities of owning and running an electric vehicle? Your eco-clean conscience will only be worth so much when you're stood in the rain with a dead car and nowhere to put your plug.

Car manufacturers are fortunately addressing this with ever-improving battery performance. The government are also steadily rolling out electric charging points over the next two years.

These changes complement electric innovation from such petrol purists as Porsche and Ferrari. It seems only a matter of time before we start to think in a new way about how we buy and run - not to mention drive - our cars.

Ben Williams, 6th April 2010

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